Roles
James G. Buckley: Class of 2009
Stephanie L. Lewis: Class of 2009
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2009
Department 1
Health Sciences
Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an acute oral dose of 3 mg/kg of Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea) on endurance exercise performance, mood, and cognitive function.
Methods: A total of 15 recreationally active college women (21.3 ± 0.09 y, 56.1 ± 6.3 kg; mean ± SD) participated in this study. 2–7 d after a familiarization trial subjects ingested in a double blind, random crossover manner, either R. rosea or a carbohydrate placebo 1 h prior to testing. Exercise testing consisted of a 10 minute warm-up, standardized to 80% of the average watts produced during the familiarization trial, followed by a 6 mile simulated indoor time trial on a Velotron electronic bicycle ergometer. Every 5 min during the time trial, subjects rated their level of perceived exertion using a BORG 10 pt scale. A blood sample was taken pre warm-up, 2 minutes post warm-up, and 2 minutes following completion of the time trial, and was analyzed for lactate concentration. Subjects also completed a Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire and a Stroop's color test pre-warm up and following the completion of the time trial. Subjects returned to the lab 2–7 d later to repeat the testing with the other condition.
Results: A 3 mg/kg acute does of R. rosea resulted in a shorter time to completion of the 6 mile time trial course (R. rosea 1544.7 ± 155.2 s, Placebo 1569.5 ± 179.4 s; mean ± SD; p = 0.06) as well as a lower average heart rate during the standardized warm up (R. rosea 138.6 ± 13.3 bpm, Placebo 143.7 ± 12.4 bpm; mean ± SD; p = 0.001). There were no significant differences between treatment conditions for rating of perceived exertion during the time trial. Both treatments resulted in a significant increase in the POMS fatigue score following exercise (p = 0.001), as well as a significant improvement following exercise for the Stroop's test of incongruent words (p = 0.001). No other significant differences between treatments were observed.
Conclusion: Acute Rhodiola rosea ingestion decreases the heart rate response to sub-maximal exercise, and appears to improve endurance exercise performance.
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
DOI
10.1186/1550-2783-6-S1-P14
Recommended Citation
Noreen, Eric, James G. Buckley, and Stephanie L. Lewis. "The Effects of an Acute Dose of Rhodiola rosea on Exercise Performance and Cognitive Function." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 6 Supplement I (July 2009), 14.
Required Publisher's Statement
Original version is available from the publisher at: http://www.jissn.com/content/6/S1/P14
Comments
This article is part of the supplement: Proceedings of the Sixth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.